Wednesday, May 26, 2010

A chicken lost

A week or so ago, we lost our chicken Abigail to an unknown illness. She had been steadily getting more confused - she couldn't find her way out of the coop - and when I finally checked her out she had lost a lot of weight. She had an appetite, and her comb was red (usually a sign of health), but she had diarrhea. I gave her vitamins and electrolytes in her water, hoping that might help, but when we came back from riding Portland Sunday Parkways she had died. I was a bit sad, but Abigail had never really bonded with me and she was somewhat of a bully to her peers, so I wasn't heartbroken. Melina was completely unfazed and very excited about the possibility of getting chicks. Jeff buried Abigail under the Buddha statue in our yard, where she rests to this day. (By the way, I had the other two hens tested for worms just in case that's what felled Abigail, but they both got clean bills of health).

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